The Indian financial services industry is facing a sharp increase in fraud and corruption recently, with many violations stemming from a surprising source: sacred Hindu cows.
Responsible for helping to develop India’s emerging agricultural industry, the country’s retail banks often provide loans to farmers to aid them in expanding their businesses.
To provide collateral on these loans, many farmers are offering up their herds of sacred, highly valuable cows, which are commonly used as currency in many business deals.
But the problem surfaces when bank managers are duped by some farmers who borrow another farmer’s herd to make theirs look larger than it actually is, giving access to bigger loans.
The Indian government has been forced to respond to the scheme and is now requiring that every cow in the country have an electronic tag put on it, with the hope of regaining control of cow fraud.